Muir Woods Lodge — Hotel in Marin City

Value for your money. Good location from which to see points of interest in Marin Co, day tripping to San Francisco, or drive up the North Coast of California on California Hwy. 1, the famous Pacific Coast Highway that runs most of the length of the California coast. Some might say dangerously close. It's the least expensive place to stay close Sausalito. Clean. Cable TV. Half the rooms look out on a road and a swampy bit of water and the other half looks out on one of the least attractive hill sides in Marin Co. I chose the hill so we wouldn't hear street noise. I don't recall trying the WiFi. We had done a lot of driving and a bit of walking. We were too tired to even go out to eat. Just watched some TV and went to sleep. Free parking. If that doesn't seem important, you aren't familiar with the Bay Area. Where ever you go, think about where you are going to park and where you will be able to use a restroom. When you are hungry while staying at the Muir Woods Lodge, I suggest that you drive to Sausalito. It is a very convenient location from which to drive to Sausalito, park and walk around. I do not recommend walking from the motel. There is no sidewalk for 1/4 of a mile in either direction, just the narrow shoulder to Hwy 1. Feel free to check it in street view on Google Maps. If there was a path, it would be a nice walk either way. It's only 1/3 of a mile west on Hwy 1 to the nearest restaurants in Mill Valley, and 1/4 of a mile east under the 101 freeway toward Sausalito, before you get on well maintained 1 mile bicycle path to Sausalito that also seems readily for pedestrians. While you are here, you will be close to Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Mount Tamalpais State Park, Muir Woods, Muir Beach, and a bunch of other noteworthy beaches. It's actually right on Hwy. 1, Califonia's famed Pacific Coast Highway. Google Maps says that it's only a 9 hour drive, and less than 400 miles. I would suggest instead that plan on taking 2 or more days, so that you can check out all the stuff along the way that catches your interest. Check out the route before you go. Staying at Ft Bragg or somewhere you like. Be sure to fill up on gas before you leave US 101 and fill up again at Ft. Bragg. There are a few other gas stations on Hwy 1, but nothing cheaper.

Once past the redwoods of Muir Woods, PCH will take you pretty close to Drake's Bay, and the historical site where Sir Francis Drake in 1579, before the first English colony in the US. He landed and made repairs, traded with the Indians, claimed the land for Queen Elizabeth I of England (the Spanish has already claimed it, and the even the Russians came through there, but so what?) and continued on his voyage around the world. PCH continues past Bodega Bay (originally a Russian outpost, later the site of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" 1963), Ft. Ross (formerly a Russian Fort, now a historical site), Mendocino (site for TV show "Murder, She Wrote" 1984-1986) and Ft. Bragg (It is named after US CPT Braxton Bragg. Don't expect a statue in his honor. He is went on to become a famous Confederate General. The current US Army Ft. Bragg named after him too!), and back into the coastal redwoods at Leggett, then take US 101 south back to Mill Valley.

Or from the intersection of PCH and US 101 in Leggett, head north on US 101 which become the coast road, all the way to Puget Sound in Washington. As I said, inexpensive and a good place from which to drive to...

The only issue we had while checking in was the online list of amenities listed they had breakfast when in fact they don't. This is disappointing but for us it's not a deal breaker. Our first impression of the room was it was lovely, well decorated, the bed was comfortable, & we just instantly felt relaxed. My husband was so relaxed in fact that he only ate half is dinner before he fell asleep in the bed. Not to long after he fell asleep my mood changed from relaxed to shocked. While I was laying next to him in bed with my back towards the windows all of a sudden I get this strange feeling like I was being watched. I started to rolled to face the windows to prove to myself I was crazy because no one could be watching me. But as I started to turn over I saw the last shutter on the windows very quickly flip shut. Someone was somehow watching me through that shutter. I froze & didn't know what to do. In an instant I was both totally spooked & in shock. I just froze for a few seconds. Than I thought your mind can make you see and think crazy things so I started to doubt own eyes. Did I really see it or was it my imagination. Yes, I know I saw it. Someone was decently watching me. It was at than I attempt to wake up my husband but couldn't. Right after I tried to wake him up I heard what I thought was him walking away from the window. Since he was now gone I soon began to try feel comfortable again in the room but I didn't have much luck with that & needless to say I didn't sleep much last night. When my husband got up the next morning I told him what I experienced. He immediately got up to check things out. First he checked the window he found it was left unlocked. We forgot to check it the night before. The window screen was bent so to make sure he the easiest access to open the window. My husband could open it very easily with just one finger. When he went to look at the outside here were normous cigarettes butts on the ground right in front of the last shutter. This means if they left when I heard the footsteps that they must have come right & watched us most of the night. Whoever did this must work for the hotel. No outside person would have access to the inside of rooms to be able to leave windows unlocked. Since we had no clue who it was that did this when we woke up this morning we very quickly got up, got ready & got the heck out of there. In our opinion the perve who did this most likely is one or more young males who are members of the cleaning staff. These employees are the only logically employees who make sense because they would have the access to all the rooms & would to be able to leave certain windows unlocked, know which ones are unlocked & vulnerable. If you still choose to stay here just do yourself a favor & make sure all your windows are locked anyless you want have to deal with a perve who gets off on watching people sleep. This is not what I would expect to happen at a hotel that I $110 plus for one night plus tax for just one night. Especially one near a national Monument with the same name...

Pros: Proximity to Muir Woods. Inexpensive. TV had built-in accessibility to Netflix and YouTube, so we were able to log into our Netflix and watch a movie before bed. Seemed pretty quiet overall.

Cons: Confirming the reservation was difficult. The first person I spoke to didn't know what to do when I asked if they could confirm my reservation. C'mon. They didn't ask for ID at check-in. Sure, who is going to have my name and try to steal my room, but something about that felt insecure. There was a lot of trash kicking around outside, including a vibrant, Giants orange beanie that could not be missed. No one is picking up outside and I assume they are not maintaining a lost and found. Just based on the unkempt premises, I was slightly concerned about leaving my car unattended. The room was extremely hot and humid upon entry. They had left the front window open and the HVAC unit switched off. The HVAC unit was effective, but it ran continuously the entire time we were there. When it was not actively cooling, it seemed to switch into fan mode. It also made occasional popping and clanging noises in the night. There was too much furniture for the room. Dresser drawers could not be opened because they were up against the HVAC unit. The desk and cair obstructed the ability to walk around the bed. The recessed overhead lighting did not work (except one bulb) and one of the bedside drawers was broken. No shampoo in the bathroom. The dispenser had been removed from the wall. The bathroom sink was slow-draining and the faucet in the tub was difficult to turn fully off. I basically punched that thing in the face to make it stop running. I have never stayed in a room that was so dirty. The more I looked, the more marks and stains I noticed on the walls, the floor, the ceiling, the furniture... No comforter on the bed, no extra blankets or pillows, and the sheet straight did not fit the bed. That was by far the strangest thing for me. It came untucked at the upper corner and there wasn't enough slack to tuck it under. On closer inspection, it was not properly tucked at either end, nor could it be. The mattress pad was also not tucked under the corners of the mattress. It felt stupid to try to calling the front desk; if they were able to do it properly, they would already have done, so I just fixed the mattress pad and called it good. No "do not disturb" sign was provided. Around 10:30 AM, cleaning staff tapped on the door and then immediately tried to enter, hitting the dead bolt. I yelled and they closed it again and walked...